Humber (USA) c. 1895-1896

I photographed this bike in the Netherlands, october 2012. It was for sale, and not very expensive. It's hard to sell because some parts are not original, like wheels and hubs.

I decided to list it on my site because it shows some typical Humber details from the period around 1895. We see the asymmetrical chainstay on both British and American Humbers from those years. Also the bracket has a specific shape. The pedals are marked 'Humber' and must be original.

It still has a sloping top tube, but it's not very steep. The 'open' fork crown was brand new in 1895 and a lot of factories used it until around 1905, some even longer. The handlebars are very narrow, which was the new craze for 1896.

The bike has a nice suspension system for the saddle. But as I said, hubs and wheels have been changed, these American Humbers were among the lightweight generation of safeties, that had wooden rims and tube type tires. And they really were lightweight, around 13-14 kilo.